From The Poly, October 24, 1990
Although a number of changes have been made to Rensselaer’s parking policies this semester, it appears unlikely that the current parking shortage will be improved in the near future, according to Rensselaer Department of Transportation officials.
The department has implemented restrictions on faculty parking and created the new Field House park-and-ride shuttle program, but "people are still willing to take the risk of getting a ticket because they want to park as closely as they can to the building in which they work or study," said Frick Hickey, associate director of Public Safety and director of the Rensselaer Department of Transportation.
It is also doubtful that additional parking spaces will be constructed on the main campus, according to Debbie Chura, department specialist of Parking Control.
The 122 percent oversubscription of RPI’s parking lots and the City of Troy’s crackdown on illegal parking activities inspired students to lobby last year for changes to be made in parking policies.
The park-and-ride program permits unrestricted parking in the Field House lot and allows students parking there to take a shuttle from the Field House lobby to the Rensselaer Union.
The shuttle, in operation weekdays from 6 am to 6 pm, runs every five minutes during peak morning, lunch, and late afternoon hours and every 10 minutes otherwise.
Permits that allow parking at the Field House cost $5 and must be purchased independently of other campus permits.
The new faculty policy bases its parking assignments on building work place and a point system using a combination of salary and seniority.
Faculty are either granted the authorization to park in core campus lots, in the Armory Lot, or in North Lot, with no interchange between lots.
From The Poly, October 24, 1990
Responding to a leak in a liquid nitrogen tank, Troy Fire Department had to evacuate the entire eighth floor of the CII for an hour last Tuesday.
The fire chief was concerned about the possibility of a hydrogen leak and ordered the immediate evacuation of the floor as a precaution, according to Bill Denn, crime prevention and public information for Public Safety.
Robert Messler, associate director for the center for manufacturing productivity and technology transfer, noted that many tanks similar to the one that leaked are in operation around campus, but he believes that this was a "one-time occurrence."
He explained that the tank that failed was an old tank and not in use at the time.
From The Poly, October 25, 1995
With the November elections approaching, Troy’s electoral candidates have declared tax-exempt organizations to be a significant issue for this year’s campaign.
According to a recent article in the Troy Record, much of the tax discussion focuses on RPI.
Michael Petruska, a mayoral candidate, proposes charging current tax-exempt corporations a curb fee to help pay for road maintenance and street lighting. Mark Pattison, another candidate, favors a trash fee over the curb fee.
A proposal is already in the city budget to impose the curb fee, but the proposal has not been finalized yet and the fee’s impact on Rensselaer cannot be determined until details of the proposal have been sought, according to Ken Gertz, Institute director of government relations.
